USSC 5502M Burnpot Ash Advice ?

[pelletstoveenthusiast]

I installed this stove last Thanksgiving, I have learned a lot from this forum with some valuable information pertaining to cutting the glass gasket, advanced settings, OAK, cleaning and more, I feel successful with heat output however one problem I cannot seem to resolve is the burnpot fills with ash and up the rear corner, after a a while the burnpot becomes too full of pellets because of the ash interference, I am not popcorning but have some fly ash everytime pellets drop. Firepot level is normally just red hot pellets in the bottom barely covering the bottom of the pot and it will stay that way until the ash gets in the way. Flame is usually steady. Glass becomes and stays a white chaulky color not black. Now using somerset pellets. Any suggestiongs on what i can do? Or is this the nature of this stove? If I stir too much becomes a problem as not much room under the burnpot for ash to go, I would love to see this stove go a whole day without having to watch, stir, dump burnpot. Thanks for any input!

Added picture of burnpot

 

[mipellet1]

I installed this stove last Thanksgiving, I have learned a lot from this forum with some valuable information pertaining to cutting the glass gasket, advanced settings, OAK, cleaning and more, I feel successful with heat output however one problem I cannot seem to resolve is the burnpot fills with ash and up the rear corner, after a a while the burnpot becomes too full of pellets because of the ash interference, I am not popcorning but have some fly ash everytime pellets drop. Firepot level is normally just red hot pellets in the bottom barely covering the bottom of the pot and it will stay that way until the ash gets in the way. Flame is usually steady. Glass becomes and stays a white chaulky color not black. Now using somerset pellets. Any suggestiongs on what i can do? Or is this the nature of this stove? If I stir too much becomes a problem as not much room under the burnpot for ash to go, I would love to see this stove go a whole day without having to watch, stir, dump burnpot. Thanks for any input!

Added picture of burnpot

hey i got the same stove with the same issue. i lift the top so the pellets stop dropping when the flame dies down i put on a wielding glove and use a three inch drywall knife and pull that chuck out the best i can then stir the pot the a shot glass of pellets and close the door. the sometimes when burning on higher setting i will have to shut down and clean underneath the burn pot even if the rest of the stove does not need it. usually i do that once a day just part of the routine.

 

[pelletstoveenthusiast]

hey i got the same stove with the same issue. i lift the top so the pellets stop dropping when the flame dies down i put on a wielding glove and use a three inch drywall knife and pull that chuck out the best i can then stir the pot the a shot glass of pellets and close the door. the sometimes when burning on higher setting i will have to shut down and clean underneath the burn pot even if the rest of the stove does not need it. usually i do that once a day just part of the routine.

I have been doing some thinking and reading, I am wondering if drilling another row of holes in the burnpot will help, I looked at a aftermarket pot picture that has more holes in the bottom where we are getting the ash buildup

 

[Johnny_Fiv3]

Look at aftermarket replacement pots. They all have 2 more rows of holes. So I marked and drilled 2 more rows on my pot. Worked like a champ.

 

[mipellet1]

Look at aftermarket replacement pots. They all have 2 more rows of holes. So I marked and drilled 2 more rows on my pot. Worked like a champ.

when you get a chance to take a pic of where you drilled holes i would be interested i made a few bigger when i first got it did not do much for it. thanks for the tip i will deffenetly looking into it.

 

[pelletstoveenthusiast]

when you get a chance to take a pic of where you drilled holes i would be interested i made a few bigger when i first got it did not do much for it. thanks for the tip i will deffenetly looking into it.

mlpellet1, Johnny_Fiv3: WOW! I took my pot to a local auto parts repair shop and had 14 holes drilled. Dollar per hole but I am very happy now I gained about 30 degrees on HR3 and dropped down to HR2 with the same temp on the sides of stove as HR3 before the holes drilled. Saving me money in pellets for sure! 6 hours burning now without touching it at all (other than hr3 to hr2), No ash in rear of pot, pellets are dropping in front and with each drop moving to the rear. I have had my share of problems with this stove but now the happiest I have been with it ever. A lot to learn I totally understand the frustrations with it. Drill the holes same size only 14 can be drilled!!

 

[pelletstoveenthusiast]

mlpellet1, Johnny_Fiv3: WOW! I took my pot to a local auto parts repair shop and had 14 holes drilled. Dollar per hole but I am very happy now I gained about 30 degrees on HR3 and dropped down to HR2 with the same temp on the sides of stove as HR3 before the holes drilled. Saving me money in pellets for sure! 6 hours burning now without touching it at all (other than hr3 to hr2), No ash in rear of pot, pellets are dropping in front and with each drop moving to the rear. I have had my share of problems with this stove but now the happiest I have been with it ever. A lot to learn I totally understand the frustrations with it. Drill the holes same size only 14 can be drilled!!

UPDATE: Works very well good heat HOWEVER after about 8 hours shut stove off, waited till cool pulled pot and OMG hardened ash 1/2 the pot bottom from front to rear totally blocked off 1/2 the pot on bottom...stuck on sides now need parts cleaner tank, chisel, sledge hammer, dremel grinder and lots of rags for all the black coal welded inside the pot and a carpet cleaning machine lol Not sure if i would personally recommend drilling now. Thanks tho I appreciate the efforts made. I should have waited to make the comment about being totally happy about the drilling. I have superb heat tho cleanup will be a massive issue. Maybe dumping and cleaning the pot while hot will help. I appreciate the help and comments made.

 

[Metal]

I have the same burnpot and I have the same issue when I burn hardwood pellets. The issue goes away when I burn softwood. I'd suggest going out and getting a few bags of good softwood pellets and see if the issue goes away. Around my parts hardwood pellets are cheaper and I have bought 15-20 bags the last two years before switching over (thought maybe I just got a bad batch the first year). From now on I am steering clear of the hardwoods. By the way, I have both a Breckwell Tahoe and a USSC King and have the same experience with both.

 

[FirepotPete]

UPDATE: Works very well good heat HOWEVER after about 8 hours shut stove off, waited till cool pulled pot and OMG hardened ash 1/2 the pot bottom from front to rear totally blocked off 1/2 the pot on bottom...stuck on sides now need parts cleaner tank, chisel, sledge hammer, dremel grinder and lots of rags for all the black coal welded inside the pot and a carpet cleaning machine lol Not sure if i would personally recommend drilling now. Thanks tho I appreciate the efforts made. I should have waited to make the comment about being totally happy about the drilling. I have superb heat tho cleanup will be a massive issue. Maybe dumping and cleaning the pot while hot will help. I appreciate the help and comments made.

You might want to read through this thread!

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/graphite-burn-pots-best-friend.152212/

 

[Johnny_Fiv3]

Also soaking the pot in hot water with dish soap for 15 minutes will make that buildup come right off. Additionally I suggest running your draft fan (dF) on setting 4 when running 100% hardwood pellets on HR2. The automatic draft setting on HR 1 and HR 2 are not correct. Not for most pellets anyways. I go 1 week without scraping or cleaning the pot. Rule of thumb when getting clinkers and pot buildup is to run the dF 2 numbers higher than the HR setting. HR 1 with dF 3 for example. You can go into a "service mode" on these stoves and reprogram the draft fan curve, but since there are other settings in there that are safety related, I don't suggest that. Easier to adjust from the controller anyways.

 

[FirepotPete]

You can go into a "service mode" on these stoves and reprogram the draft fan curve, but since there are other settings in there that are safety related, I don't suggest that. Easier to adjust from the controller anyways.

THIS is why I love burning 100% corn. It only changes season to season, not by the bag or run of bags from a pellet mill. Once I got my stove to run corn good, all I have to do is when getting a new season of corn is to tweak the DF a little, everything goes AUTO after that, except the agitator is OFF!

 

[Bybyoil]

I installed this stove last Thanksgiving, I have learned a lot from this forum with some valuable information pertaining to cutting the glass gasket, advanced settings, OAK, cleaning and more, I feel successful with heat output however one problem I cannot seem to resolve is the burnpot fills with ash and up the rear corner, after a a while the burnpot becomes too full of pellets because of the ash interference, I am not popcorning but have some fly ash everytime pellets drop. Firepot level is normally just red hot pellets in the bottom barely covering the bottom of the pot and it will stay that way until the ash gets in the way. Flame is usually steady. Glass becomes and stays a white chaulky color not black. Now using somerset pellets. Any suggestiongs on what i can do? Or is this the nature of this stove? If I stir too much becomes a problem as not much room under the burnpot for ash to go, I would love to see this stove go a whole day without having to watch, stir, dump burnpot. Thanks for any input!

Added picture of burnpot

Hi I have the same issue with mine but learned to work with it , I clean my stove after every burn with a ash vac and it keeps the black ash from building up on the bottom, I use a small puddy knife to scrape the bottom of the burn pot and clear out the little holes in it to so it can breath freely , I'll burn from 6 pm to 8 am and then vacume all the ash out after it cools and I've done this for 3 seasons and haven't had any issues!

 

[Johnny_Fiv3]

I just bump the draft setting up to 2 above the HR setting. This flows enough air to keep the pot clear for about 7 days at a time.